Ecuador mining industry to grow eightfold by 2021 — report

Ecuador, until recently only known by its oil resources, will continue to attract investors to its mining sector, with the value of the dawning industry set to jump from $1.1 billion this year to $7.9 billion in 2021, a new report shows.

According to BMI Research, the nation will increasingly emerge as a mining investment hot spot in Latin America thanks to a combination of revised regulatory framework, significant gold and copper reserves, and a policy of “inclusive agenda of development” expected to be carried over by the incoming President Lenin Moreno.

“While left-wing candidate Lenin Moreno won the April presidential election over the traditionally more business -friendly centre-right candidate Guillermo Lasso, we expect the incoming administration to continue to support mining development, as initiated by Moreno’s leftist predecessor Rafael Correa,” the analysts write.

Under Correa, Ecuador relaxed the implementation of the 70% windfall tax on profits, now only applied after the firm has regained full capital investment and only if commodity prices reach pre-determined levels of $1,500 an ounce in the case of gold and $8,818 a tonne for copper.

Another measure recently taken by Ecuador was the creation of a mining ministry. Before 2015, the oil and gas ministry regulated the activity and, as such, it was quite neglected, the country’s mining minister Javier Córdova told MINING.com last month.

Thanks to those changes, the country now expects mining investments to increase 360% in the next four years compared to the period 2013-2016, totalling more than $4 billion.

The asset, discovered in 2006, is expected to generate 340,000 ounces of gold a year during its mine life. First production is expected in the first quarter of 2020, with full operations beginning in 2021.